1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a chair with a toilet sink, and in particular, to a chair with a toilet sink having a lid which can be easily removed and replaced.
2. Description of the Prior Art
To help physically challenged or elderly persons, or persons having difficulty in using a toilet on their own, wealthy households take advantage of the availability of nurses. Since employing nurses-can be difficult or expensive, various companies have introduced chairs that are designed for conveniently answering nature""s call, to be used by a patient who leaves the bed and has a certain degree of mobility.
One example of such chairs is illustrated in FIG. 6, which shows a chair 90 having a seat plate 91 with a hole 92 provided therein. A toilet sink 93 is mounted below the hole 92 for collecting the excreta and urine. Although this design provides a certain degree of convenience, the existence of the uncovered hole 92 means that the patient will not be able to stay seated on the seat plate 91 for an extended time.
FIG. 7 illustrates another example. To provide more comfortable seating, a cushion or a lid 94 is placed on the seat plate 91, which covers the hole 92 so that the patient can sit comfortably on the cushion 94. Although the chair shown in FIG. 7 allows the patient to answer nature""s call as well as to move around comfortably, it suffers from the following shortcomings:
1. When the patient wants to relieve himself or herself, a nurse has to help her or him up, open the lid 94, and carry the patient back on the chair.
2. After usage, the nurse has to lift up the patient again and close the lid 94 to bring the patient back onto the chair.
3. If the patient is an adult person, her or his body is relatively heavy and may not be easy to move. In practice, it is difficult for other persons to lift the patient up from the lid 94 and to put her or him back on the lid 94, as described above.
4. If the lid 94 is not closed, the patient will sit directly on the seat plate 91, which is both uncomfortable and impairs blood circulation in the patient""s body.
Thus, there remains a need for a seat that can be used by a patient to answer the call of nature, which avoids the drawbacks set forth above.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a chair with a toilet sink having a lid which a patient is able to open on her or his own, or with the assistance of a nurse, without having to leave the chair.
It is another object of the present invention is to provide a chair with a toilet sink having a lid which a patient is able to close on her or his own, or with the assistance of a nurse, without having to leave the chair.
In order to accomplish the objects of the present invention, the present invention provides a chair having a chair frame, and a seat plate mounted on the chair frame. The seat plate has hole that is wider at the front than at the rear. The chair further includes a container mounted below the hole, and a cushion positioned above the seat plate. The cushion has an opening that is aligned with the hole, with the opening being wider at the rear than at the front. The chair also includes a lid that is fitted inside the opening and supported by portions of the seat plate.